Cricket Bat Repairs

[DCC_legend]

Just wondering about sanding down the face of my bat. I've had a bit of bat tape on the face for just over a year and peeled it off today and the face is now sticky. I want to sand the face down and knock the bat in and re-apply oil to prepare it for this season. What type of sand paper would be best to both smooth the face and give it a nice finish?

Cheers.

 

[Naumaan]

No Idea
but i would say, buy a new Bat sir

 

[DCC_legend]

Great help there, sir.

 

[SportsHorizons]

Hi DCC,

You need to use a blade or old smooth knife to scrape the glue off the face and edges of the bat. If you use sand paper to take off the glue, the glue will clogg up, and it will take you too long to clean your bat. Once you can feel the bat is smooth and non-sticky, you can then lightly sand the face of your bat and oil the bat.

 

[Naumaan]

Great help there, sir.

lol

 

[IrishOpener]

*Bump*

Just bought a Kookaburra Kahuna 800, it recommends using a 180 grade sandpaper to give the face of the bat a light sanding.

Nobody seems to stock that light of finish. Would emery paper also work?, it's used on metals I think. So must be a very fine grade.

Would you guys be okay using emery paper?...

 

[SportsHorizons]

If you can't find normal wood sand paper then the emery paper should fine to finish off the smoothing off of the cricket bat. You may need to do a bit more sanding to get it smooth as the grit will be very different from normal wood sand paper. Remember you are dealing with Willow, so you shouldn't be able to damage the bat badly at all if the emery paper does not work.
What are you wanting to actually do with the bat?
Have you oiled the face of the bat yet?

 

[IrishOpener]

If you can't find normal wood sand paper then the emery paper should fine to finish off the smoothing off of the cricket bat. You may need to do a bit more sanding to get it smooth as the grit will be very different from normal wood sand paper. Remember you are dealing with Willow, so you shouldn't be able to damage the bat badly at all if the emery paper does not work.
What are you wanting to actually do with the bat?
Have you oiled the face of the bat yet?

I'm oiling that bat now, it's pre prepared so not sure how many coats to put on. The guy from Kookaburra said one if that, then another person recommended 2 maybe 3 coats.

Then knock it in for 2 hours, then to sand the bat very lightly on the face,

Then try take it to a net with defensive shots and a very old cricket ball. If the marks appear then go back to the previous step of knocking it in some more with a mallet...

(2nd Question)

When knocking it in, I do hit lightly at first onto the face of the bat, and directly onto the edges of the bat themselves?. Gradually becoming harder with the blows...

 

[SportsHorizons]

For your conditions, an extra 2 coats of oil should be adequate.

The sanding should be done before the 1st coat of oil is applied, this is to expose the willow for oiling. Then apply the 1st coat of oil and leave to settle over night lying face up. You can knock in the bat the next day. Apply the 2nd coat of oil the next night and leave to settle again overnight.
The most important areas to knock in are the edges and the toe area of the face. These are the most vulnerable areas of the bat. Start knocking in softly and gradually get harder the longer you knock these areas in. The edges need to be rounded by the knocking in process. Once rounded these edges will be hard enough to not dent too much when you hit a new or harder ball directly on the edge. Directly on the edge is any shot at a 45 deg angle to the face of the bat. You do not need to knock in the flat part of the edges as this is an area that should be directly hitting the ball in any case.

The face of the bat does need to be knocked in initially, but will not require as much work as the toe and edges as the middle will get knocked in the more the bat is used in practice. So any seam marks on the face of the bat will disappear as the rest of the face is knocked in with play.

Top quality bats are not pressed as much nowadays due to the performance the willow can offer, but if you want the bat to last you for a longer period it is advisable to knock the bat in over a period of 2 weeks before being played with against new balls in a match or nets.

If you do not feel confident that the bat is ready for new balls, then continue to knock the bat in until you are confident in the bat.

 

[Hurricane]

best post,.

 

[uvelocity]

180 grit should be easy to find. if not the difference between 160 or 200, going up or down slightly will be too small to worry.

 

[Burgey]

Burgeinho has a new stick again this year. on the basis that the old one was "a bit too small, dad". Anyway, the usual problem with the rubber toe guard peeling off on one side.

What do you blokes reckon? Glue it or just get rid of the thing?

 

[benchmark00]

Burgeinho has a new stick again this year. on the basis that the old one was "a bit too small, dad". Anyway, the usual problem with the rubber toe guard peeling off on one side.

What do you blokes reckon? Glue it or just get rid of the thing?

Get rid of it. Will only damage the bat if he's playing on concrete pitches (no synthetic covering) and he bangs it really hard.

 

[Burgey]

He's on synthetic decks, but I was leaning towards getting rid of it anyway. Cheers.

 

[Cricket Bat]

A solvent such as Shellite can be useful to get rid of the frustrating sticky residue when trying to clean bats and cricket gear. Don't overdo it though.

 

[spamboy21]

Hi guys, new to this forum.
I've got some what looks like cracks running down the grain of my new bat. I'm a little worried, as I've done a full 9 hours knocking in with a ball and sock and then mallets. Does anyone know what they are and what I need to do to them?
Thanks

 

[Riggins]

Just looks like an ordinary bat face to me, nothing to worry about.

I'd put a clear cover on it and then use it in a game as normal, but that's personal preference.

 

[akhil888]

bat repair

Just wondering about sanding down the face of my bat. I've had a bit of bat tape on the face for just over a year and peeled it off today and the face is now sticky. I want to sand the face down and knock the bat in and re-apply oil to prepare it for this season. What type of sand paper would be best to both smooth the face and give it a nice finish?

Cheers.

Here is what u can do :
First of all whenever u need to take down the tape, take it out with the help of an hair dryer, it makes the process easier.
Next use a good quality thinner to remove stickiness
Sand the bat a fine sand paper ( p180 -p220)
Oil the bat (wait for 24-36 hours), with bat face horizontal.
knock a little
Apply the anti scuff sheet (if u want)
Start using the bat again.

Cheers....

 

[cnerd123]

SportsHorizons was such a gun poster

 

[akhil888]

OK, that's not a problem, I have experienced this myself here is what to do:
1.First use an hair dryer with setting onm warm air and let the sticky thing become semi liquid.
2.Now this step wud take a lot of repetition and lots of wrist work, use a shaving blade to very carefully to remove the semi liquid, in between this process u have to use ur nails a bit too as that wud remove the sticky material collected.
Very carefully perform this step as the blade cud leave marks on the bat or even peel off the wood at the places.
3.Then use the sand paper 150 and 180) different times to smoothen the surface.
4.Again repeat the blade peeling process and sand paper effect.
5. Finally if u r satisfied, then use the sand paper (220) for final touch, this paper will also require lo of hard work, as thi paper is used to smoothen the wood during polish.
6. Now oil ur bat as required, I u live outside India, u can use bat wax instead of linseed oil, it will give t bat . Fresh new look a shine. Linseed oil will deteriorate the bat after fe uses, but bat wax is the modern excellent option.
Use a bat tape after a few days.
Start using ur bat now and enjoy......
And mate, best of lucks for the matches, may u score more and more runs.......
Enjoy......Cheers......
Akhil Sharma
India.